SP2 Bad thing or Good?

[Ken (dotnet@kenlocke.com)]

I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket of
bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its sole
purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of
stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through.... anyway,
your opinions please..

Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please keep
the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks


ken )

[David H. Lipman]

I haven't had *any* problems with SP2 on any desktop or notebooks I have installed it on.
None.

SP2 is Good !

However, there is always the concept of "Chaos and Complex Systems" in a computing platform
getting in the way.

Dave



"Ken )" > wrote in
message ...
| I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
| totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket of
| bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
| again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its sole
| purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of
| stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through.... anyway,
| your opinions please..
|
| Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please keep
| the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
|
|
| ken )

[kp]

I've had 2 very, very bad installs of SP2 also. Had to reinstall WinXP the
first time and the second time I actually had to parallel install WinXP in a
separate windows folder. I will now put in another hard drive, install
WinXP on that and then reformat the original drive.

The last thing tech support told me was..."if your system is 3 yrs old or
older(mine is exactly 3 yrs old), you should be sure to update all your
drivers before installing SP2 and also double-check any older programs you
have...just like you did when you upgraded from 98 to XP."

My tech support incident closed as "unresolved".

kp

"David H. Lipman" > wrote in message
...
> I haven't had *any* problems with SP2 on any desktop or notebooks I have
installed it on.
> None.
>
> SP2 is Good !
>
> However, there is always the concept of "Chaos and Complex Systems" in a
computing platform
> getting in the way.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> "Ken )"
> wrote in
> message ...
> | I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two
occasions
> | totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a
bucket of
> | bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows
work
> | again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its
sole
> | purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot
of
> | stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through....
anyway,
> | your opinions please..
> |
> | Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please
keep
> | the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
> |
> |
> | ken )
>
>

[Rock]

Ken ) wrote:

> I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
> totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket of
> bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
> again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its sole
> purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of
> stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through.... anyway,
> your opinions please..
>
> Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please keep
> the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
>
>
> ken )

SP2 runs fine on the majority of systems. Many differences are due to
the firewall and security options in internet explorer. It depends on
the apps you are running. Do some reading to learn about the changes.

Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx

Windows XP Service Pack 2: What's New for Internet Explorer and Outlook
Express
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/ieoeoverview.mspx

How to Manage Cookies (IE6)
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=283185

How to configure Internet Explorer automatic download prompts on your
Windows
XP Service Pack 2-based computer
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=883255

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Center
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;windowsxpsp2

Browsing Security Enhancements
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2brows.mspx

Understanding Windows Firewall
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/internet/sp2_wfintro.mspx

How to use the Security Alert dialog box in Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=875353

Troubleshooting Windows Firewall settings in Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=875357

Troubleshooting Windows Firewall in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
(Detailed Article)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a7628646-131d-4617-bf68-f0532d8db131&DisplayLang=en

The Cable Guy - February 2004
Manually Configuring Windows Firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0204.mspx

Windows XP Service Pack 2 problems/The Service Pack 2 firewall
http://www.michna.com/kb/WxSP2.htm#The_Service_Pack_2_firewall

How to troubleshoot problems accessing secure Web pages with Internet
Explorer 6 Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=870700

How to troubleshoot situations where you cannot complete MSN sign-up or
connect to SSL secured (128-Bit) Web sites by using Internet Explorer in
Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=813444

"The Page Cannot Be Displayed" Error Message When You Try to View Web
Page on a Secure Web Site
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=303807

Detailed description of the data execution prevention feature in Windows
XP SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=875352

Use the Internet Explorer Information Bar
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/web/sp2_infobar.mspx

How the Attachment Manager works in WinXP SP2
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=883260

Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 Part 5:
Enhanced Browsing Security
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2brows.mspx#XSLTsection137121120120

Introduction to URL Security Zones:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/security/szone/overview/overview.asp

[David H. Lipman]

Many of the systems I installed WinXP SP2 averaged between 2.5 and 4 years and included...

Dell; GX400, GX240, Latitude C410
IBM; Thinkpad A20, A21, A22, 600e

Note the Thinkpad 600e are older platforms indeed ! PII 400Mhz.

No problems noted.

Dave



"kp" > wrote in message ...
| I've had 2 very, very bad installs of SP2 also. Had to reinstall WinXP the
| first time and the second time I actually had to parallel install WinXP in a
| separate windows folder. I will now put in another hard drive, install
| WinXP on that and then reformat the original drive.
|
| The last thing tech support told me was..."if your system is 3 yrs old or
| older(mine is exactly 3 yrs old), you should be sure to update all your
| drivers before installing SP2 and also double-check any older programs you
| have...just like you did when you upgraded from 98 to XP."
|
| My tech support incident closed as "unresolved".
|
| kp
|
| "David H. Lipman" > wrote in message
| ...
| > I haven't had *any* problems with SP2 on any desktop or notebooks I have
| installed it on.
| > None.
| >
| > SP2 is Good !
| >
| > However, there is always the concept of "Chaos and Complex Systems" in a
| computing platform
| > getting in the way.
| >
| > Dave
| >
| >
| >
| > "Ken )"
| > wrote in
| > message ...
| > | I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two
| occasions
| > | totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a
| bucket of
| > | bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows
| work
| > | again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its
| sole
| > | purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot
| of
| > | stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through....
| anyway,
| > | your opinions please..
| > |
| > | Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please
| keep
| > | the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
| > |
| > |
| > | ken )
| >
| >
|
|

[jeffrey]

Hi,

I have installed XP SP2 on over 200 systems now, 197 are work computers and
3 are my personal computers. Out of the 197 work computers, the age range
is between brand new to 4 years old. I have installed it on Dell, Gateway,
Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, IBM and Fujitsu Desktops and Notebooks. On my
personal systems, 2 are home built desktops and a Dell Latitude C640
notebook. All the computers haven`t had any problems. Before installing
SP2, I did pre-install maintenance on the computers, like Spyware/virus
checks, driver updates, deleting cookies and TIF, removing un-used programs,
and defrag. Since the update, I haven`t had any complaints from any of the
users.

In my opinion, SP2 is very good, just most people who have had problems
might not beleive that they really need to properly prepare the computer for
the update. Also in some case`s, the XP SP1 computers had some minor
problems, but nothing that the user might have though was serious and cause
of that, when installing SP2, those minor or rare problems caused major
problems with SP2.

Also posted a lot of times here, people PC`s were not purged 100% of
spyware/malware that cause a bad install of SP2 as well as some bad
downloads of the SP2 prior to installing. But with most problems, the PC
was not properly prepared for the install, in part it is the user`s fault
and in part I would also have to say MS`s fault. User`s need to be more
aware of basic computer maintenance and todays threats to computers and MS
should have made the automatic update of SP2 a download with the option to
install later when the PC was properly prepared, instead of like how other
critical updates automatcially install themselves after you click install on
the update website. Lot of user`s just installed SP2 without properly
preparing the computer, but didn`t really know or understood the procedure
prior to installing that update.

Jeff

"Ken )" >
wrote in message ...
>I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
> totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket
> of
> bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
> again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its sole
> purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of
> stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through....
> anyway,
> your opinions please..
>
> Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please keep
> the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
>
>
> ken )

[Don Burnette]

Ken ) wrote:
> I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two
> occasions totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff....
> Is SP2 a bucket of bugs or is it just something that re have to
> relearn to make windows work again after intalling??? intrested in
> all comments.. I understand its sole purpose was to beef up windows
> SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of stuff, cause of possible
> holes for the uglyies to sneak through.... anyway, your opinions
> please..
>
> Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please
> keep the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2...
> Thanks
>
>
> ken )


No problem here.

I did do the following just prior to installing SP2

Checked for adware/spyware with Ad Aware 6.0
Checked for latest updates for my peripherals
Checked for latest updates for my applications
Updated my AV software virus definition files.
Ran a virus scan.
Did a disk cleanup, cleaning out temp files and cookies.
Did a chkdsk on my system drive.
Imaged my system partition with PowerQuest Drive Image to external hard
drive. ( if no imaging software, I would strongly recommend , at the least,
backing up all important data files, and settings ). Take precaution when
deciding what to back up, make triple sure you have any data files that are
very important to you backed up in some way, either to another partion, hard
drive, cdr, floppy.

Downloaded SP2 network version ( complete 266 mb file) from windows update
catalogue site.
Disabled my AV software.
Installed SP2. I think it took about 15 minutes for me, maybe 20 at the
most.

After installation:
Ran disk defragger on system partition. Made sure AV software was activated
again. Checked my main applications and programs I run to make sure no
issues.

No problems, and my computer appears to be a little snappier. No conflicts
with any of the security features, matter of fact i have a hardware nat
firewall with my router for my cable internet, and have the XP firewall on,
and no issues. I also really like the pop up blocker.



--
Don Burnette

[Gary R.]

I think a lot of the gripes are due to panic. People see a problem, panic,
then rush to uninstall SP2 thinking it's the problem. A friend had a USB
drive that quit right after the update, was ready to uninstall SP2, but I
checked and found a bad cable...the timing was a coincidence.

I did the upgrade on a laptop and it seemed OK, until I plugged in the
wireless card and got bluescreened. It wouldn't boot with it in either. I
could have panicked and uninstalled SP2, but instead I checked the website
for the card and found that I needed to uninstall their software and use
drivers only. End of problem.

That was the 9th SP2 I've done, and that was the only problem; all the
machines work great, including the networking and wireless. I did the
preliminaries first, with spyware, cleanup, defrag, etc., and even a Ghost
backup, but never needed it.

Gary

"Ken )" >
wrote in message ...
>I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
> totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket
> of
> bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
> again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its sole
> purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of
> stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through....
> anyway,
> your opinions please..
>
> Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please keep
> the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
>
>
> ken )

[Steve N.]

Ken ) wrote:

> I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
> totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket of
> bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
> again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its sole
> purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of
> stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through.... anyway,
> your opinions please..
>
> Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please keep
> the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
>
>
> ken )

I've had no trouble with SP2 on several machines. You have to make sure
the system is squeaky clean and has no problems first, no viruses, no
spyware, no driver problems, no file system errors, etc.

Steve

[JeezLouize]

"Ken )" > wrote
in message ...
>I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
> totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket of
> bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
> again after intalling??? intrested in all comments.. I understand its sole
> purpose was to beef up windows SECURITY... and thats why it kills alot of
> stuff, cause of possible holes for the uglyies to sneak through.... anyway,
> your opinions please..
>
> Please make them honest evaluations, and not just slander, and please keep
> the profanity out of the responses for those who despise SP2... Thanks
>
>
> ken )

SP-2 is a @%#$ piece of %&^* and furthermore the &^@# thing has
^$%@# so there's #$%^ the #&*@ thing is ever be @#$%&+@#.
There you have it, an honest evaluation without the profanity.

[urlborg]

"Rock" wrote:

> Ken ) wrote:
>
> > I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two occasions
> > totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a bucket of
> > bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows work
> > again after intalling??? intrested in all comments..>


> SP2 runs fine on the majority of systems. Many differences are due to
> the firewall and security options in internet explorer. It depends on
> the apps you are running. Do some reading to learn about the changes.
>
> Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx
>
> poster continues with an endless litany of itemized bandages applied upon years of older bandages by the convictef software thieves of Redmond still intent on hiding the theft of Netscape, it's reverse engineering and their innane attempt to hide the theft as "parts of Windows" by 'hiding' it in very heart of their lame OS user's actual local File Management system!

The best Security 'Service Pack' one can use for Windoze eXtra Problems is
the totally free and perfect, undocumented one it doesn't come with:

Delete IEXPLORE.EXE (and it's malicious backup)

Only use Windows Internet/File Explorer Netscape imitation to browse file
systems on your local machine or network

Install the legal, safe, unpirated version of Java

Install a hardware firewall/router on your high speed connection

Install a software proxy server and set your internet properties to only use
it.

Get and install a good malicious/spam hosts blocking file

Install Netscape or Firefox for internet browsing and make them the system
default for all internet file types

Delete Frontpage, Outlook and Outlook Express

Install Eudora or any other high quality, high security text (never html)
email client, that stores your downloads in a folder you create and that you
can see and scan for viruses, and clean of unnecesary file attachment s

Install a decent News Reader like Free Agent

Send $20 to Trumpet Software in Australia for the stolen, reverse engineered
pirated version of winsock TCP driver your system is using

Don't ever try to use a Windows Explorer platform to host any sort of file
server.

YOu will never need a new bandage from Microsoft again

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Did you have a bad experience, or are you just taking your seat on the
anti-Microsoft bandwagon because it is fashionable?..

--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/user

http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm





"urlborg" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> "Rock" wrote:
>
>> Ken ) wrote:
>>
>> > I have had to uninstall the SP2 upgrade several times and ont two
>> > occasions
>> > totally reinstall windows.... SP2 kills alot of stuff.... Is SP2 a
>> > bucket of
>> > bugs or is it just something that re have to relearn to make windows
>> > work
>> > again after intalling??? intrested in all comments..>
>
>
>> SP2 runs fine on the majority of systems. Many differences are due to
>> the firewall and security options in internet explorer. It depends on
>> the apps you are running. Do some reading to learn about the changes.
>>
>> Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
>> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2chngs.mspx
>>
>> poster continues with an endless litany of itemized bandages applied upon
>> years of older bandages by the convictef software thieves of Redmond
>> still intent on hiding the theft of Netscape, it's reverse engineering
>> and their innane attempt to hide the theft as "parts of Windows" by
>> 'hiding' it in very heart of their lame OS user's actual local File
>> Management system!
>
> The best Security 'Service Pack' one can use for Windoze eXtra Problems is
> the totally free and perfect, undocumented one it doesn't come with:
>
> Delete IEXPLORE.EXE (and it's malicious backup)
>
> Only use Windows Internet/File Explorer Netscape imitation to browse file
> systems on your local machine or network
>
> Install the legal, safe, unpirated version of Java
>
> Install a hardware firewall/router on your high speed connection
>
> Install a software proxy server and set your internet properties to only
> use
> it.
>
> Get and install a good malicious/spam hosts blocking file
>
> Install Netscape or Firefox for internet browsing and make them the system
> default for all internet file types
>
> Delete Frontpage, Outlook and Outlook Express
>
> Install Eudora or any other high quality, high security text (never html)
> email client, that stores your downloads in a folder you create and that
> you
> can see and scan for viruses, and clean of unnecesary file attachment s
>
> Install a decent News Reader like Free Agent
>
> Send $20 to Trumpet Software in Australia for the stolen, reverse
> engineered
> pirated version of winsock TCP driver your system is using
>
> Don't ever try to use a Windows Explorer platform to host any sort of file
> server.
>
> YOu will never need a new bandage from Microsoft again
>
>
>
>

[JerryMouse]

urlborg wrote:

>
> The best Security 'Service Pack' one can use for Windoze eXtra
> Problems is
> the totally free and perfect, undocumented one it doesn't come with:
>
> Delete IEXPLORE.EXE (and it's malicious backup)

You will void your warranty and lose hair.

>
> Only use Windows Internet/File Explorer Netscape imitation to browse
> file
> systems on your local machine or network

Huh?

>
> Install the legal, safe, unpirated version of Java

DO NOT allow Java on your machine. You'll just encourage them. Sun laid off
2300 workers this week; it's only a matter of time 'til Sun is a memory and
Java with them.

>
> Install a hardware firewall/router on your high speed connection

Good idea.

>
> Install a software proxy server and set your internet properties to
> only use
> it.

Another good idea.

>
> Get and install a good malicious/spam hosts blocking file

Fair idea.

>
> Install Netscape or Firefox for internet browsing and make them the
> system
> default for all internet file types

Don't do it! Too many vulnerabilities.

>
> Delete Frontpage, Outlook and Outlook Express

Not if you want to communicate with anyone else on the planet.

>
> Install Eudora or any other high quality, high security text (never
> html)
> email client, that stores your downloads in a folder you create and
> that you
> can see and scan for viruses, and clean of unnecesary file attachment
> s

You must have HTML capability for emergencies.

>
> Install a decent News Reader like Free Agent

Absolutely not. Free Agent is a product of a company whose name is vaguely
French-sounding. Rather unsettling.

>
> Send $20 to Trumpet Software in Australia for the stolen, reverse
> engineered
> pirated version of winsock TCP driver your system is using

Do not pay tribute to pirates. Americans want Pendergast alive or Rizzouli
dead.